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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27670357">as you wish</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetberri/pseuds/sweetberri'>sweetberri</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure &amp; Romance, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Comedy, Drama, F/M, Fantasy, Minor Character Death, Murder, Princess Bride AU, Torture, crossposted on tumblr, fem!reader - Freeform, mild violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:28:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,302</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27670357</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetberri/pseuds/sweetberri</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>at only 17 years old, you swear to never love again. </p>
<p>at 22 years old, you are chosen by prince oikawa to be the lucky commoner who becomes his bride. </p>
<p>next thing you know, your life is consumed by kidnapping, sword fights, thieves, treason, potential war, mythical creatures, vigilantes, revenge, secrets, and against all odds, love again. who would have thought that becoming the future princess of aobajohsai would cause such strife in your life?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kuroo Tetsurou/Reader, Kuroo Tetsurou/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. 01 ; THE BRIDE</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>heavily (and i mean heavily, im not claiming to be original, this is just for fun) based on the novel and movie.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b><em>TO BE THE MOST</em></b> beautiful girl in the world was a concept far past your concern. Those around you certainly saw the potential, but at 16 years old, you simply could not care less to capitalize on your natural beauty. (Beauty routines were exhausting in your eyes. You only washed your face so as not to feel filthy, taking a razor to your leg hair was far more trouble than it seemed worth, and you were quite sick of brushing your hair, so you did so as little as possible.) All you really wanted to do was ride your horse and pester the farm boy that worked for your parents.</p>
<p>Prince, as you had taken to calling the horse when he was just a yearling, was a loyal companion. Other girls your age grew attached to one of their herding dogs’ pups, or the kitten of a barn cat, but you had Prince. He always came when you called, steered where you told him even on a loose rein, nuzzled your face on bad days. </p>
<p>For all the time you spent taunting and bossing the farm boy around—“Farm Boy, fetch me this,” and “Farm Boy, take care of that,”—he always had one thing in common with the horse: he always did as he was told.</p>
<p>(Perhaps you knew that he was really a young man now—he <em>was</em> a year or two older than you—but he had been just an orphaned boy when he first came to work for your father, so that was what you referred to him as: Farm Boy.)</p>
<p>“As you wish,” he always replied, without fail.</p>
<p>Your father was fond of the farm boy, often remarking how he should leave him an acre of land in his will for all his hard work. These conversations never lasted long though, not before your parents would turn to you and chide you for needing to go bathe again and clean yourself up after spending the day in the barn.</p>
<p>Despite your disdain for taking care of yourself like a “proper lady,” as your mother liked to say, your natural beauty was still enough to cause the village boys to flock to you. Those dimwits always liked to badger you with stupid questions whenever you rode into town, offering silly favors and making awkward small talk, much to dismay of the rest of the girls in the village. The boys were always so annoying, and you often noted how much more tolerable Farm Boy was as you dismissed their advances. Eventually they took to making fun of you, laughing over snide remarks about you because they must have been embarrassed about being shot down. Sometimes the insults were too much to ignore, and when that was the case, Farm Boy took matters into his own hands. You always thanked him after he sent a village boy home bloodied and crying, and he always answered, “As you wish.”</p>
<p>You came to realize that Farm Boy was the only boy your age whose presence you seemed to enjoy. One night, you lied awake with the dim light from a full moon crawling through your window, thinking about how he was always kind and respectful to you, how he protected you and your honor, how he seemed to smile at you differently than he ever smiled at the other girls in town. (You also let yourself admit that he was quite handsome, with his amber eyes and ebony hair that was always in a perfect bedhead state, which was something you had never bothered caring about before.)</p>
<p>After that, your time was no longer divided between riding your horse and pestering the farm boy; now, ‘pestering’ was to be replaced with ‘falling for’. You let him join you on rides through the woods on Prince; you began doing your morning reading in the barn to keep him company while he fed the animals; you took it upon yourself to take out any extra supper your mother cooked to him. You even decided to stop calling him ‘Farm Boy’.</p>
<p>“What’s your actual name, Farm Boy?” you asked out of the blue.</p>
<p>“Why do you ask?” he had replied, and you snorted in mild amusement.</p>
<p>“Well, after having known you all these years, it must be quite rude of me to still call you ‘Farm Boy’.”</p>
<p>He paused and grinned that endearing grin of his, “Just call me Kuroo, then.”</p>
<p>Everything was so blissful for the year following. You loved Kuroo, and he loved you. Even on the day the royal Count and Countess of Aobajousai had strangely paid your family a visit, you both were sure of this; because while the Countess took Kuroo’s arm gently for him to show her the dairy cows and the Count watched you intently as you followed the small procession on your horse, you and Kuroo both stared at each other.</p>
<p>At the end of one year though, Kuroo unexpectedly showed up at your window in the middle of the night.</p>
<p>“I’ve come to say goodbye.”</p>
<p>You shot up straight in your bed, cocking your head incredulously, “What do you mean, ‘goodbye’?”</p>
<p>“I mean I’m leaving.”</p>
<p>“Leaving? Have I done—”</p>
<p>“I’m taking to the sea to seek my fortune,” he cut you off. “There’s a ship that sails out of Karasuno, to the new country of Inarizaki. There’s great opportunity there, so I’m going.”</p>
<p>You were shell-shocked for a moment.<em> Leaving? Sailing to Inarizaki? Where was this all coming from?</em></p>
<p>“But why? What about the farm? What about <em>us</em>?” You finally said. Your voice was already beginning to quiver pathetically as tears brimmed in your eyes.</p>
<p>“I’ve been training at night, so I hardly need sleep or food, and I’ll get two 10-hour-a-day jobs. I’m gonna save every penny, and in just a couple years I’ll have enough to buy a big farm and build a brand new house just for the two of us.”</p>
<p>“For the two of us?” Your brows furrowed and your voice was meek.</p>
<p>“Yes, (y/n). I love you. All these years I’ve stayed here because of you. I’ve taught myself foreign languages, made my body strong, everything, <em>for you</em>. I’ve been head over heels for you since I was a kid. Do you understand what I’m saying, or should I keep going?”</p>
<p>(By now, Kuroo had squeezed his broad frame through your window, somehow landing gracefully on the floor and sliding next to you on your bed so he could wipe away your tears with his thumb. It was a good thing he was athletic enough to do so quietly, because if your parents caught him in your room, all hell might break loose.)</p>
<p>“Never stop,” you mumbled dreamily.</p>
<p>“There hasn’t been a day—”</p>
<p>“You better not be teasing me, Kuroo, or I’ll have your hide,” you broke in this time. Kuroo loved to tease you, and it was normally all in good fun, but if that was the case now, then he was taking it way too far.</p>
<p>“I’d never joke about loving you,” he replied. “Remember all those years when you would tell me, ‘Farm Boy, do this, Farm Boy, do that’? What did I always say?”</p>
<p>“‘As you wish’.”</p>
<p>“Well, that’s just what you <em>thought</em> I was saying. I was actually saying ‘I love you’,” Kuroo smiled gently and ran his fingers through your hair.</p>
<p><em>All that time?</em> You couldn’t even recall the first time Kuroo started saying ‘As you wish’ to all your commands, but apparently he had been in love with you. Before you had ever even noticed him, he was devoted to you. It sounded like a fairy tale.</p>
<p>“I love you too, Kuroo. I’ll never stop loving you, I swear,” you finally said.</p>
<p>“I’ll hold you to it, princess. I have to go now if I want to make it to Karasuno in time, but I’ll send for you soon. Promise.”</p>
<p>You nodded in understanding, but you couldn’t let him leave without one last kiss.</p>
<p>There had been five great kisses since the beginning of time. Though the precise rating of kisses is a bit convoluted and controversial (everyone knows that the formula for a great kiss is comprised of timing, affection, intensity, and duration, but there has never been a universal agreement on each element’s weight), there was no doubt that this kiss left every other in the dust.</p>
<p>The following morning, all you wanted to do was lay around and mope. It was perfectly justifiable, considering the love of your life had just left the country, and you wouldn’t see him for God knows how long. You wallowed in self pity for about an hour before realizing that Kuroo was out in the great big world now, and with as handsome as he was, he would surely have women throwing themselves at him.</p>
<p>
  <em>What if all this moping destroys my beauty, and when he sends for me, I’ll arrive in Inarizaki, and he’ll take one look at me and send me back?</em>
</p>
<p>“Mother,” you ran downstairs, interrupting whatever petty argument your parents were having. “I need your advice. How can I better take care of my appearance?”</p>
<p>“You’ve never cared about your appearance, honey. Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”</p>
<p>“Well, I’m nearly 18 now. I figure it’s about time I start behaving a little more like a lady,” you lied. It was enough to appease your mother, and she grabbed your arm and began dragging you to the washroom in delight.</p>
<p>You quickly learned that taking such care of yourself was hard work; the saying, ‘beauty is pain,’ made an awful lot of sense now. But for Kuroo, nothing was too much. Every morning, you awoke at dawn to start the farm chores. You had to pick up all the slack left by Kuroo, so there wasn’t really any time for self-improvement until the afternoon, but once you started, you took it very seriously. Daily baths, simple exercises, and all the time it took to brush your hair out perfectly before bed.</p>
<p>If the whole town thought you were beautiful before, now they all knew you must be a contender for the most beautiful girl in the world. You, however, still had no care for how beautiful the rest of the world found you; as long as Kuroo found you beautiful. (In the coming years, you would learn that you were beautiful no matter what, and simplify your beauty routine to what <em>you</em> liked. As long as you felt clean and tidy, that was sufficient.)</p>
<p>Kuroo wrote you letters every few months, and you kept every one of them. Sometimes people would ask you how he was doing, which was a mistake unless they had a lot of spare time, because you could talk about him for hours. It was obvious that you were completely and utterly in love, and so the village boys eventually stopped trying, and the village girls warmed back up to you.</p>
<p>It made sense the way Kuroo’s death hit you the way it did.</p>
<p>The news reached your parents first. The Count (a new fellow named Iwaizumi, appointed by Prince Oikawa shortly after the last one’s death) was sent to your farm to deliver the news since it was Kuroo’s last known place of residence. You were returning from town on your horse when Count Iwaizumi was leaving your property.</p>
<p>“Miss,” he nodded politely as you crossed paths. You rode on in confusion, and the new Count watched you intently, much like the last one.</p>
<p>When you made it into the house, both your parents hushed up and looked at you with pity.</p>
<p>“What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>“It’s <em>The Crow’s Wing</em>, darling. It was attacked,” your mother told you.</p>
<p><em>Kuroo’s ship was attacked?</em> You furrowed your brows, “What?”</p>
<p>“Pirates. In the night,” your father explained.</p>
<p>You knew the trip across the sea would be dangerous, but you never thought it would happen to <em>him</em>. Sliding into a chair, you decided it might be best to sit down.</p>
<p>The room was quiet until you managed to squeak out, “So Kuroo’s been taken prisoner, then?”</p>
<p>A long sigh from your parents, and then, a, “No.”</p>
<p>“It was the Dread Pirate Nekomata.”</p>
<p>You blinked, willing back tears. The Dread Pirate Nekomata was the most famous pirate in all the world, and he <em>never</em> took prisoners. In all these years in his reign of terror, <em>no one</em>survived an attack from the Dread Pirate Nekomata.</p>
<p>You went to your room, and this time around, you allowed yourself to mope. For six days, you sulked, and cried, and mourned. Not once did you come out of your room, so your parents took to leaving food outside your door, which you only ever picked at meekly. During those six days in your room, you decided you would never love again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. 02 ; THE GROOM</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em><b>PRINCE OIKAWA WAS A MAN</b></em> of great renown. There wasn’t a person in Aobajohsai that couldn’t recognize him in one swift glance; he walked through the kingdom with a swing in his dainty hips, which contrasted his mighty barrel thighs and broad, sinewy shoulders. His steps were surprisingly soft, and if he wanted to become a ballet dancer, he would probably find surprising success. But Oikawa didn’t want to be a ballet dancer. He wasn’t even in much of a rush to be king (considering he practically ran the kingdom anyway, what with his mother and father being too old and senile to do it themselves). Everything took second place in his affections, save for one thing.</p><p>Tracking was his love.</p><p>He made it a habit to never let more than a few days go by without tracking something down or training his hounds. It started when he was a young boy, with his parents’ two Irish Wolfhounds—off he would go with them, chasing rabbits through fields to add the stew that the palace cook was making for supper. Before long, he started studying other tracking sports, from fox hunting to coonhunting to even scenting out other humans, and became a talented tracker in each field. Once he was determined, once he focused on a target, the Prince was relentless.</p><p>For a while, Prince Oikawa traveled the world, acquiring hounds from the most prestigious lineages and persuading masterful hunters to mentor him. As his skill increased, he took to training and breeding his own dogs, creating Aoban pedigrees that had a name in and of themselves. Unfortunately, travelling consumed time, and the time away from Aobajohsai became increasingly worrying. Oikawa’s father was growing old, and as the only male heir to the throne, it eventually became time for the Prince to return home.</p><p>Instead, he took to roaming the Aoban countryside on weekends, accompanied by Count Iwaizumi on the horses he trained. (The Count always was a better horseman than the Prince.) Sometimes they paid visits to the far corners of the kingdom, but more often they stuck to day trips near the castle.</p><p>Prince Oikawa was walking out of the barn, two horses in hand, in preparation for one of these trips when news of his father’s health taking a turn made its ultimate intrusion. The sun hadn’t been up long, dew still heavy on the grass, when Count Iwaizumi made his appearance.</p><p>“There you are!” the Prince chided him, “You’re running behind, you know?”</p><p>(Other nobles of Aobajohsai might have gotten in trouble for such tardiness, but the Count was an exception. After he and the Prince grew up side by side, Iwaizumi was the only person that could raise his voice or lay a hand on Oikawa without consequence.)</p><p>“There is news,” Iwaizumi did not bother apologizing.</p><p>“Of?” Oikawa handed off the Count’s horse.</p><p>“I have the report of your father’s annual physical.”</p><p>A pregnant pause.</p><p>“He’s dying.”</p><p>Prince Oikawa sighed, a frown creasing his otherwise flawless cheeks. He wasn’t surprised by this news—the king’s health had been questionable for years now—but it certainly wasn’t how he would like to have started his morning.</p><p>“Well, I guess it’s about time I get married then, huh?”</p><p>“Looks to be that way, sire.”</p><hr/><p>Four of them met in the great council room of the castle: Prince Oikawa, his greatest confidante, Count Iwaizumi, his father, the aging King, and his evil stepmother, the Queen.</p><p>(She wasn’t really evil. In fact, she was actually one of the most beloved people in the kingdom, and had been married to the King since long before he began mumbling. Prince Oikawa had been but a child then, and since the only stepmothers he knew of were the mean ones from fairy tales and bedtime stories, he had decided she must be evil.)</p><p>“Alright,” the Prince began once they had all been assembled. “I must marry soon, so we have to pick a bride for me.”</p><p>“Yes,” the King said, “I’ve been thinking it was about time we found you a bride.”</p><p>(In actuality, he mostly just mumbled it, like, “Yesss, I’ve beennn thumbleee about temmmm wefumbbble bridddde.”)</p><p>“You couldn’t be more right, dear,” the Queen patted the King’s shoulder. She was the only person that could decipher his words during these little episodes.</p><p>“What did he say?”</p><p>“He said whoever we decide on will be getting a wonderfully handsome prince for a lifetime companion,” the Queen replied.</p><p>“Ah, well thank you, Father. You’re looking quite well yourself,” Oikawa chuckled back.</p><p>“It’s the new miracle maker, I’m sure of it,” the King piped in, wiggling a finger. (It came out mumbled again: “I’ssss the nmumble mumble.”)</p><p>“What did he say?”</p><p>“He said a man of your importance shouldn’t marry just <em>anyone.</em>”</p><p>“I suppose,” Prince Oikawa rested his chin in his hands before sighing.</p><p>“What about that Ushijima?” The Queen suggested.</p><p>“It <em>would</em> be a good match politically,” Count Iwaizumi admitted, though he knew how much the idea revolted Oikawa.</p><p>Prince Ushijima was from Shiratorizawa, the country that lay across the Aoba Channel. (They put it differently in Shiratorizawa; Aobajohsai was the country across the Channel of Shiratorizawa, according to them. The two countries had a history together, spending centuries warring each other. There had been the Rice War, and then the Tuna Fish Discrepancy, which nearly sent both nations into bankruptcy, the Fern Fiasco, which <em>did </em>end up running them fiscally dry, but it was followed by the Great Emerald Boom, during which they both got rich again.)</p><p>“He’s a handsome young man, I think we should bring him over for a discussion,” the Queen said. She was always the peacemaker in the royal family, a diplomat through and through.</p><p>“No, absolutely not!” cried Prince Oikawa. If it had been any other person, had Ushijima had a sibling or something, perhaps he would have mulled it over, but that wasn’t the case. Oikawa simply could <em>not</em> marry Ushijima.</p><p>“There’s no other heirs in any neighboring countries that would benefit us,” Count Iwaizumi reminded him, though he knew it wouldn’t change the Prince’s mind.</p><p>“I’ll marry a commoner before I marry that Shiratorizawa filth!”</p><p>“Boo, no Shiratorizawa filth!” the King chimed in. (“Booo, numble shumble zumfle!”)</p><p>The room quieted for a moment; they seemed to be stuck. Finally, the Count perked up.</p><p>“Maybe you <em>can</em> marry a commoner.”</p><p>Dead silence again.</p><p>“Look, your people have been a bit tense with us nobles the past few years,” the Count continued. “You could bridge the gap by marrying a commoner.”</p><p>“A commoner as the princess, what a fun idea!” the King said. (“Commumble as theprimmmble, whumble fum idea!” His words were becoming a tiny bit clearer; he seemed to be coming out of the episode).</p><p>“What did he say?” Oikawa still asked.</p><p>“Whoever it is must look the part of a noble. They should at least look nice,” said the Queen.</p><p>“Of course! I’ll find a commoner so beautiful that when you see them, you stop and stare, and say, ‘Wow, that Prince Oikawa must be some kind of fella to marry someone like that.’ That’s what I’ll do! Search the country, no, search the world!”</p><p>Count Iwaizumi furrowed his brow in thought.</p><p>“No, I think she is already found,” he said. An uncharacteristic smile crossed his face.</p><p>The next day at dawn, the two young noblemen reined in their horses at the hilltop by your farm. Iwaizumi rode a massive black gelding, stout and bulging with muscles. Prince Oikawa rode one of his whites, leaner and elegant. His mare made Iwaizumi’s mount seem like a lowly plow puller.</p><p>“She delivers milk from her family’s farm to the market square in the mornings,” Count Iwaizumi told him.</p><p>“And she’s truly-not-a-shadow-of-a-doubt-without-question beautiful?” Oikawa asked.</p><p>“You calling me a liar?”</p><p>“I wouldn’t dare,” Oikawa chuckled.</p><p>“She was something of a mess when I saw her,” admitted the Count, still grinning in amusement. “But she was still one of the most beautiful people I have laid eyes on.”</p><p>From the bottom of the hill, you appeared, turning your horse (whose name now seems quite ironic) onto the path to the farm. Even from this distance, Oikawa knew Iwaizumi was right.</p><p>“I must court my princess, now.”</p><p>“Good luck,” the Count teased, unknowing that the Prince might actually need it.</p><p>And so the Prince rode on, maneuvering his horse quite expertly down the hill until he was at your side.</p><p>You blinked curiously when he approached. You had never seen such a man, riding such a brilliantly shiny horse and wearing such extravagantly crafted clothes.</p><p>“Are you Miss (y/n)?”</p><p>“I am. Who’s asking?”</p><p>“Your prince,” Oikawa grinned a dazzling grin. “I’ve come to ask for your hand in marriage.”</p><p><em>Marriage?</em> You continued riding, with one eyebrow quirked incredulously.</p><p>“I’m sorry, sire, but I refuse.”</p><p>“You can’t refuse.”</p><p>“I just did.”</p><p>“But refusal could mean treason, and treason means death,” explained a very confused Prince.</p><p>“Kill me then,” you told him.</p><p>“But…” the Prince trailed off. For the first time in his life, he was left dumbfounded. Speechless. Shellshocked. He had not been prepared to be turned down, not even slightly.</p><p>“But I’m your Prince! And—” Oikawa was beginning to stumble over his words. “And I’m not that bad. How could you rather be dead than married to me?”</p><p>“It’s nothing personal, sire,” you soothed his ego. “But marriage involves love, and love has never been particularly kind to me, so I’m sworn to never love again.”</p><p>Prince Oikawa’s brows furrowed, creasing his otherwise flawless forehead.</p><p>“Love? Who said anything about love?” he said. “Look, here’s the deal. There must always be a male heir to the throne of Aobajohsai. Once my father dies, there will only be a king: me. All I ask is that you marry me so that I can provide a new heir to the throne.”</p><p>You stared at him silently.</p><p>“You’ll get to be the richest and most powerful woman in the country, and give away turkeys at Christmas and meet people from foreign countries. You could even provide us nobles insight to better help commoners like yourself. So won’t you be my wife?”</p><p>You paused again, looking back over at your family’s humble little house. Your father was growing older, and milking the cows everyday was becoming difficult with his aching joints.</p><p>“I won’t ever love you.”</p><p>“If that is what you wish,” Prince Oikawa said.</p><p>“Then by all means, let us marry.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. 03 ; THE KIDNAPPING</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div class="">
  <p></p>
  <div class="">
    <p><em><strong>ONE YEAR AFTER YOU</strong></em> agreed to marry Prince Oikawa, the great square of Seijoh City was filled to the brim. The people of Aobajohsai were awaiting the introduction of Prince Oikawa’s bride-to-be. The crowd had begun forming a whole 24 hours before, but at 15 hours before, it was no more than maybe a couple hundred people. But as the moment of introduction neared, people from all across the country gathered.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>At noontime, Prince Oikawa appeared on the balcony of his father’s castle and raised his arms. The crowd, which was dangerously large at this point, slowly quieted down. Rumors were flooding the kingdom, that the King was dying, that he was already dead, that he was fine.</p>
  </div>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“My beloved people, today is a day of greeting. As you’ve probably heard, my father’s health is not what it once was. Now, in three months, our country celebrates its 500th anniversary.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>A few whoops echoed through the crowd, but most remained silent.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“To celebrate that celebration, I shall marry your future princess on that sundown,” Oikawa announced. “She was once a commoner like yourselves, but perhaps you will not find her to be so common anymore. I introduce to you the lady of the hour, (y/n).”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The Prince made a sweeping gesture and the doors swung open behind him, and you stepped out beside him on the balcony. The crowd gasped, and bowed, for their future princess truly was beautiful. A year spent in the castle, and your beauty had doubled, no, tripled.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You waved, looking down at the people fondly, but it was interrupted by Oikawa ushering you away.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Alright, back inside. Don’t want to risk overexposure.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“But some of them have waited so long,” you argued. “I’d like to walk among them.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“We only walk among commoners when we need to,” said the Prince.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I <em>am</em> a commoner,” you reminded him sharply, and with that you left the balcony before reappearing a few minutes later at the great steps of the castle.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Wherever you went the people parted. Most of them there would certainly never forget that day. The great majority adored you instantly. Sure, there were some that withheld judgement until they could see how fit you were as a queen, and even some who were frankly jealous. But very few hated you.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>And only three of them were planning to murder you.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Naturally, you knew none of this. You were smiling. When the people wanted to touch your dress, you let them, and when they wanted to brush their skin against yours, you let them do that too. You studied hard to do things royally, and you wanted to succeed, so you kept your posture erect and your eyes gentle. If someone had told you your death was close, you would have laughed. But—</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>—in the farthest corner of the square, in the highest building of the land, deep in the deepest shadow, the man in black stood waiting.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>His boots were black and leather. His pants were black and his shirt too. His mask was black, blacker than a panther. The only thing that wasn’t black was his flashing eyes; they were the color of centuries-old amber under the Aoban sun.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Flashing and cruel and deadly.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You were more than a little weary after your triumph. Walking the crowds while remaining all royal-appearing was exhausting, so you rested a bit, before deciding around mid afternoon that you would go for a ride on Prince (the horse, of course). Riding was the one aspect of your life that hadn’t changed since agreeing to marry the Prince (the human, of course). You still loved to ride, and almost every afternoon, you rode alone in the wild land behind the castle.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You did your best thinking then. Not that your best thinking expanded any horizons; you weren’t even actually part of the royal family yet. <em>Still</em>, you told yourself, <em>there was no harm in thinking.</em></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Your brain was awhirl as you rode through woods and streams and heather. The walk through the crowds had moved you, and in a way most strange. For even though you had done nothing for a year now but train to be a princess and a queen, today was the first day you actually understood that it was all soon to be a reality.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You just didn’t like Prince Oikawa all that much. It wasn’t that you hated him, not at all. But you never really <em>saw</em> him; he was always off doing princely duties or on a hunting trip.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>In your way of thinking, there were two main problems: (1) was it wrong to marry someone you didn’t much like, and (2) if it was, was it too late to do anything about it?</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The answers, to your way of thinking, were: (1) no and (2) yes.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>It wasn't wrong to marry someone you didn't like, it just wasn't right either. If the whole world did it, that wouldn't be so great, what with everybody kind of grunting at everybody else as the years went by. But, of course, not everybody did it, so it wasn’t a big problem.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The answer to the second question was even easier; you had given your word that you would marry, and that was that.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Since agreeing to marry, you had heard nonstop that you must be the most beautiful woman in the world, and soon you would also be the richest and the most powerful woman in the world too.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>With a sigh, you told yourself that you shouldn’t be so ungrateful for all of this. You would have to learn to be satisfied with what you had.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Dusk was closing in, and you were probably a 30 minute ride from the castle, when you suddenly reined in your horse at the hillcrest; for in the dimness beyond stood quite possibly the strangest trio you had ever seen.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The man in front was pale, with a gentle face; his almost white-blonde hair made him appear angelic. He was long-legged and lanky, but when he moved toward you, he took surprisingly small, quick steps. (It reminded you of the way the Queen had trained you to walk, all feminine and princess-like.) The other two men remained rooted.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The second, also pale, appeared as cold and slender as the blade of steel at his side. The third man, broad, with strange two-toned hair, was easily the biggest man you had ever seen.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Please, a word, miss?” the blonde raised his hand. His smile was almost more angelic than his face.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You nodded for him to go on.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“We are but poor, lost circus performers,” the blonde explained. “We were told there is a village nearby where we could settle for the night.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You’re mistaken,” you told him. <em>What poor souls,</em> you thought. “There is nothing nearby, not for many miles.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Then there will be no one to hear you scream,” the blonde said. As his angelic smile contorted into a wry, ugly sneer, he jumped with surprising agility toward your face.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>That was the last thing you remembered. Perhaps you screamed, perhaps you didn’t, but if you had, it certainly wasn’t from the pain; the blonde man had expertly found a pressure point on your neck and knocked you out cold.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You awoke to the lapping of water. You were wrapped in a blanket, and the giant man was carrying you to place you in a boat. For a moment you almost screamed, but then you thought it might be better to listen. (It was a bit difficult though, considering the increasing pounding of your heart.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The sound of ripping cloth caught your attention first.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What is that?” the swordsman asked.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Same as I attached to her saddle,” the blonde replied. “Fabric from the uniform of a Shiratorizawa soldier.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Suddenly you heard Prince (the horse, you see) squeal slightly, and then his thundering hooves retreating far away.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Once the horse reaches the castle, the fabric will make everyone suspect that the Shiratorizawans abducted the Prince’s fiance. Once she is found dead at the Shiratorizawa frontier, there’ll be no denying it.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Wait, you never said anything about killing anyone,” said the giant, looking a little distraught.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“We’ve been hired to start a war, it’s kind of in the job description,” the blonde bit back.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Well, I just don’t really think it’s right to kill an innocent girl.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The blonde’s eyebrows furrowed and face twitched in sudden irritation.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Have I gone <em>mad</em>, or did the word ‘<em>think</em>’ just escape your lips?” he stood up defiantly, but even with his lanky frame, the giant dwarfed him. “I did <em>not</em>hire you for your brains!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I agree with Bokuto. Let’s just make it seem like she was taken for ransom,” the slender swordsman finally spoke up.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yes, that sounds like a good idea, Akaashi.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“It’s too late,” the blonde said. “She’s been awake this whole time, so she already knows our plans.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You lay under the blanket, unmoving. <em>How could he have known that?</em></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“The Great Tsukishima senses all,” the blonde seemed to answer you. <em>Was he a mind reader?</em> (A conceited one, if he was.)</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>It didn’t matter if he was or not, for now you were all setting sail. Not once did you speak a word, not when it grew dark, and not when the moon rose high into the night sky.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“We’re making good time, we should be at the cliffs by dawn,” the blonde announced aloud. “Why do you keep looking back?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The swordsman turned around, shifting uncomfortably.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Making sure no one is following us.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Ha! That would be inconceivable,” laughed the blonde.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The boat went silent again for a few minutes. The swordsman continued to glance back. Something was bothering him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Stop doing that!” the blonde sounded more exasperated than before.”You’re overthinking it. No one in Shiratorizawa knows what we’ve done, and no one in Aobajohsai could have gotten here so fast.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Are you <em>sure</em> nobody is following us?” insisted the swordsman.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Like I said, that would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>A long pause.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Out of curiosity, why do you ask?” he added in.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“No reason,” the swordsman tried to play it off. “It’s only that I happened to look behind us and something is there.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>They all whirled.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>There was indeed something there. Just a mile behind them, across the moonlight, was another sailing boat, small, with a giant sail that billowed black in the night, and a single man at the tiller. A man in black.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Probably just some local fisherman out for a pleasure cruise at night, through eel-infested waters,” the blonde trailed off as he went, each word less confident than the last.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>
    <em>SPLASH!</em>
  </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>They all whirled again, this time to see that you had thrown yourself straight into the Aoban Channel and were beginning to swim away.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Go! Go in after her!” the blonde yelled.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I can’t swim,” said the swordsman.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I only doggy paddle,” said the giant.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You continued to leave them behind you. It wasn’t long before your arms began to tire, but you gave them no rest.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Veer left!” instructed the blonde.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You ignored your kidnappers, but you couldn’t ignore the strange shrieking that began all around you. The sound made you stop and whipped around, looking for the source as you treaded water.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Do you know what that sound is, your highness?” asked the blonde. The boat was getting closer again. “Those are the shrieking eels. If you don’t believe me, just wait. They always grow louder when they’re about to feed on human flesh!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The screeching was growing louder, and if you looked closer into the water, you could see slimy tails flicking out the water all around you.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Come back now,” the blonde went on, “and I promise when I kill you, you’ll die a painless death. I doubt you’ll get such an offer from the eels.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>They were shrieking wildly now, and they were whipping their heads out of the water. Their teeth were razor sharp, glinting in the moonlight, and the sight had you frozen in fear. When one came charging at you, there was quite literally nothing you could do but close your eyes and pray.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Fortunately for you, there was a giant on board of the boat you had just escaped from. He leaned over the edge of the boat, grabbed you by one arm, and hoisted you back to the safety onboard before the eel got you.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Keep her warm,” the swordsman tossed his cloak to the giant.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Don’t catch cold, miss,” said the giant, wrapping the cloak around you and holding you tight.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“It doesn’t seem to matter all that much,” your teeth chattered, “considering that you’re killing me at dawn.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The blonde knelt in front of you and began binding your wrists together. The swordsman was shooting glances back again.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I think he’s getting closer,” he said, in reference to the boat behind them.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“He’s no concern of ours! Sail on!” the blonde snapped once again. He sure was a grouchy fellow.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I suppose you think you’re brave, Princess?” he now turned to you.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Only compared to some,” you bit back.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The boat was approaching the Cliffs of Insanity now. They rose straight and sheer from the water, a thousand feet into the sky. They provided the most direct route between Aobajohsai and Shiratorizawa, but no one ever used them, sailing instead the long way around.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The swordsman maneuvered the watercraft up to the cliff face, and immediately the blonde jumped out and found a giant rope dangling from the cliffs. He tugged, once, twice, and it held firm; it must have been tethered to something at the top.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You watched in confusion as the trio got to work. The giant robed himself in some fancy harness, with loops hanging off every which way; the swordsman cinched you into one of the loops, before cinching himself in another. The blond took the last loop, practically nose-to-nose with the giant.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“All aboard.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>And with that, the giant began climbing the rope.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>It was at least a thousand feet and he was carrying the three, but he was not worried. When it came to power, nothing worried him. When it came to reading or writing, he got terrible knots in his stomach, and when addition was mentioned or, worse, long division, he broke out in hives. But strength had never been his enemy. He could take the kick of a horse on his chest and not fall backward. He could take a hundred-pound flour sack between his legs and scissor it open without thinking.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>But his real might lay in his arms. There had never, not in a thousand years, been arms to match Bokuto's. His arms were gargantuan and obedient and flashy, but most of all, they were tireless. If you gave him an ax and told him to chop down a forest, his legs might give out or the ax might shatter, but Bokuto's arms would be as fresh tomorrow as today.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>And so, with the blonde around his neck and both the swordsman and the Princess both wrapped around his waist, Bokuto felt his most confident. It was only when he was requested to use his might did he not feel like a bother to everybody.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Hand over hand, arm over arm, Bokuto climbed. Three hundred feet over the water now, seven hundred left to go.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The blonde man was in fact afraid of heights, more than anything. But right now, he could not allow it.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Where he could not succeed with his body, he relied on his mind. He had fought it, trained it, forced it to heel. In moments like this, when he should have been trembling, it all paid off, because he was not trembling. Instead, he was thinking of the man in black.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>There shouldn’t have been any way that someone could have been quick enough to follow them, and yet that billowing black sail had appeared. How? The blonde couldn’t find an answer, no matter how hard he tried. In wild frustration, he took a deep breath and, in spite of his terrible fears, he looked back down toward the dark water.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The man in black was there, tying off his boat at the base of the cliffs. With ease, he then leapt onto the rope and began to climb as well.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“He’s climbing the rope,” the swordsman commented.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I can feel him,” said the giant.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“And he’s gaining on us.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Inconceivable,” the blonde blubbered, for when he looked down again, the man in black seemed to be flying up the rope. “Faster!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I thought I <em>was</em> going faster.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You were supposed to be this colossus,” the blonde grit his teeth, nose-to-nose with the giant again. “This great legendary thing! And yet, he gains.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Well, I’m carrying three people, and he’s only got himself.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’ll just have to find myself a new giant then.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Awh, don’t say that Tsukki. Please?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>By now, the man in black had gained maybe 200 feet on them, but they were only maybe 150 feet from the tops of the cliffs.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Bokuto flew. He cleared his mind of everything but ropes and arms and fingers, and his arms pulled and his fingers gripped and the rope held taut as he flew.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“He’s halfway,” remarked the swordsman.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“It doesn’t matter, we’re but 50 feet from safety!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Bokuto pulled—</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Forty feet.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>—And pulled—</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Fifteen feet.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>—And heaved them to the top.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>And like that, it was over. Bokuto had done it. They had reached the top of the Cliffs, and first the blonde jumped off and ran to the rock the rope was tethered to. He pulled out a dagger and began slicing as fast as he could. He sliced and sliced, all the while the swordsman and the princess were untying themselves from the giant, until the rope snapped and whipped across the clifftop before disappearing to the depths below.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The other men peered over the cliffside curiously, until the swordsman mumbled, “He’s still there.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What?” the blonde came scurrying to the edge of the cliff. The man in black was hanging precariously to the cliff face. “He didn’t fall? Inconceivable!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You keep using that word,” the swordsman looked at the blonde. “I do not think it means what you think it means.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>When they looked back, the man in black had begun climbing.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Whoever he is, he’s clearly seen us with the princess and must therefore die!” cried the blonde. “Bokuto, carry the princess. We’ll head straight for the Shiratorizawa frontier. Akaashi, catch up when he’s dead. If he falls, fine, but if not, the sword.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The swordsman nodded.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The blonde and the giant began hobbling away with you. Just before he was out of sight, the giant turned and hollered, “Catch up quickly!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Don’t I always?” the swordsman waved. “Farewell, Bokuto.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Farewell, Akaashi,” the giant replied, and then he was gone, and the swordsman was alone.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Akaashi moved to the cliff edge and knelt with his customary quick grace. One hundred and fifty feet below him now, the man in black continued his painful climb. It was becoming easier to see him, what with the sun starting to break. He was a good learner, so he had to study. Finally, he realized that somehow, by some mystery, the man in black was making fists and jamming them into the rocks, and using them for support as he climbed.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Akaashi marveled. What a truly extraordinary adventurer this man in black must be. He was close enough now for Akaashi to realize that the man was masked. Another outlaw? Perhaps. It was a shame that such a fellow must die though, but he had his orders, so there it was. Sometimes he did not like Tsukishima’s commands, but what could he do? Without the brains of the blonde, he wouldn’t be able to command jobs of this caliber. The blonde was a master planner. Akaashi was a creature of the moment.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>There was nothing to do but wait for the man in black now. He was still a ways away, but Akaashi didn’t particularly like waiting. So to make the time more pleasant, he pulled from the scabbard his prized possession:</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>A six-fingered sword.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Oh, how it danced in the rising sun. Akaashi inspected it fondly, with all the fervor in his Fukurodanian heart, awaiting the arrival of the man in black.</p>
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